Defrocked priest wants new trial for child rape

Patriot Ledger Staff And Wire Service

Wednesday

May 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMMay 28, 2008 at 1:40 PM

Paul Shanley, a notorious figure in the clergy sex abuse crisis who was assigned to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Braintree in the late 1960s, hopes to get a new trial by challenging the repressed memories of a boy he raped in Newton.

A notorious figure in the clergy sex abuse crisis who was assigned to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Braintree in the late 1960s, hopes to get a new trial by challenging the repressed memories of a boy he raped.

Defrocked priest Paul Shanley is serving a 12- to 15-year prison for repeatedly raping a boy at a Newton parish in the 1980s. Shanley was convicted in 2005.

In a motion for a new trial, Shanley claims his former lawyer did not properly challenge the repressed memory evidence that helped convict him. The victim – who was 6 when Shanley first raped him – testified he repressed memories of the sexual abuse until 2002, when they came back as the sex abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese unfolded in the media.

A judge is expected to hear arguments on Shanley’s motion in Suffolk Superior Court Thursday.

Shanley, 77, was assigned to St. Francis in Braintree in the 1960s and has been accused of molesting children there as well.

He was once known for being a “street priest” who reached out to troubled children and homosexuals.

Because of the state’s 15-year statute of limitations for those charged with sex crimes against children, Shanley avoided prosecution on most of the allegations against him. Middlesex County prosecutors were able to charge Shanley in the Newton case from the 1980s because he left the state and moved to California in 1990. As a result, the clock on the statute of limitations stopped.

He was once known for being a “street priest” who reached out to troubled children and homosexuals.

Shanley will be eligible for parole in five years.

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